As Goods and Services Tax (GST) marks 9 years on 1 July 2026, India's landmark indirect tax reform has achieved near-universal acceptance among businesses, with more than 99 per cent of companies reporting a positive or neutral experience, according to the latest Deloitte Survey. Negative sentiment has dropped to near zero — down sharply from 5 per cent in 2025 and 10 per cent in 2022 — signalling a decisive shift in how India Inc. views the country's biggest tax overhaul since independence.

What Is Driving Business Confidence

The Deloitte Survey identifies three pillars underpinning this trust: digitalisation of compliance (cited by 69 per cent of respondents), automation of tax processes (54 per cent), and the stabilisation of e-invoicing and e-way bill systems (48 per cent). Together, these have delivered greater transparency, consistency, and ease of doing business across sectors.

Notably, MSMEs have emerged as among the biggest beneficiaries. Positive sentiment toward the quarterly return filing scheme has surged from just 12 per cent in 2023 to 67 per cent in 2026 — a near six-fold jump that reflects how smaller enterprises are increasingly comfortable with the digital compliance architecture.

GST 2.0 and Rate Rationalisation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has described the roll-out of GST 2.0 as injecting fresh momentum into India's growth story. "By rationalising slabs and lowering rates across a range of consumer goods, the reform has delivered tangible savings for households, freeing up disposable income and helping stimulate demand," she said.

The original multi-slab structure of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent — along with a cess on luxury and demerit goods — was replaced from 22 September 2025 with a revamped two-tier framework. Under the new structure, most goods and services fall under either the 5 per cent or 18 per cent slab, while a separate 40 per cent rate applies exclusively to luxury and 'sin goods' such as sugary drinks.

The impact of rate rationalisation has been strongest in the consumer sector (64 per cent of respondents reporting an effect) and life sciences and healthcare (58 per cent), according to the survey.

Key Revenue and Registration Milestones

The scale of GST's expansion over nine years is reflected in its revenue and taxpayer numbers. Registered taxpayers have more than doubled — from 66.5 lakh at launch to approximately 1.6 crore in 2026 — a trend analysts attribute to greater formalisation of the Indian economy.

On the revenue front, average monthly GST collections have nearly doubled from ₹89,700 crore in 2017-18 to ₹1.85 lakh crore in FY26. Annual revenues reached ₹22.27 lakh crore in FY26, representing an over 8 per cent jump over the previous year.

When it was introduced, GST subsumed 17 central and state taxes along with 13 cesses, replacing a fragmented indirect tax structure with a unified national market designed to eliminate double taxation and cascading levies.

What GST 2.0 Looks Like

According to the Deloitte report, the next phase of GST will move well beyond digitalisation toward an intelligent, predictive, and integrated framework. Businesses are seeking AI-driven compliance tools, data-led dispute reduction, and a seamless unified taxpayer experience. Technology-led administration is increasingly pivotal, the report notes, as organisations depend on digital systems for accuracy, speed, and predictability.

With collections at record levels and business confidence at an all-time high, the focus now shifts to whether the GST Council and the Centre can deliver on the structural reforms businesses are asking for — particularly faster dispute resolution and further slab simplification.